DEVELOPING AN ART SERIES WITH ROBERTA WAGNER

April 24-26, 2026

Port Orchard, WA

Join Gig Harbor artist, Roberta Wagner in a three-day mixed media workshop that will focus on developing a series of small collages.

Wagner currently works primarily with ink, watercolor, pigments, encaustic, and acrylic on handmade Asian papers, silk, and cotton. She also embellishes works with handmade porcelain trinkets and beads, as well as machine and hand stitch.

She loves assembling small pieces with multiple textures that lead to a moment of quiet contemplation.

She will share her daily practice with tips on how to develop smaller collages into a series of work.

The objectives of this class —

• Work in a series to create small mixed-media collage pieces

• Create a mixture of collage papers and fabrics

• Create 5-7 small collaged mixed media pieces

• Learn how to display the pieces a variety of ways.

Each day we will meet in the Bellissima Art Studio at 9:30 a.m. and end the day around 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be served each day with one dinner Saturday after class.

Itinerary

Day 1, April 24. We will meet for introductions and Roberta will go over the workshop schedule. This morning she will share several of her series for inspiration.

After lunch, Roberta will demonstrate techniques for creating collage papers and fabrics and how to treat various papers (washi, Chinese, rice, brown, old book pages) with acrylic/ink, machine stitch, asemic writing, encaustic. Students will start making their papers.

Day 2, April 25. Roberta will demonstrate acrylic and ink on fabric before you continue making papers and work with your own fabric. There will be lots of sharing of ideas today. Roberta will also show her sample stitch book.

This evening dinner will be served after class.

Day 3, April 26. We will continue on completing the assemblages and Roberta will talk about beads, rust and other ideas for what could be added as focal points.

After lunch, Roberta will address various ways of displaying your work. The goal will be to have at least one collage framed and ready to hang.

Around 3:00, we will clean up and have our Show ‘N Tell. Class will be over around 4:30 p.m.

This Art Escape includes

• Three days instruction by Roberta Wagner

• Three lunches, one dinner

• Some Art Supplies

• Private Facebook Page

• New art tribe

The cost of this workshop is $800. A non-refundable $400 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining $400 is due April 15, 2026.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are many AirBNBs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

We will provide

• India ink

• Acrylic paint

• Encaustic medium

• Potatoes for stamping

• Torn book pages

• Cheesecloth

• Matte Medium

• Gesso

• Sewing Machine

• Iron

• Paper Towels

• Water containers

• One 8” x 10” cradled board

• One 8”x 10” mat with a 4” x 6” opening

• Linen Tape

• Sandpaper

Artist Supply List

• 1/4 to 1/2 yard of organza silk (Roberta buys hers from Dharma Trading)

• 1/4 yard lightweight cotton

• 1/4 yard of heaving weight cotton or canvas

• Variety of sewing needles

• Small Rusty pieces

• Beads

• Flat shells

• Small bottle of ‘art glitter’ glue or Lineco Natural PH Adhesive

• Scissors - paper, fabric and embroidery

• Small spray bottle

Roberta Wagner has been making art for more than 40 years in many different mediums. She is an artist and author intricately weaving threads of nature, spirituality, and personal narratives into her mixed-media artworks.

I hope my work feels like a sanctuary, nurturing your spirit, and connecting you to beauty and the bounty around us.  

She is the author of Come Walk with Me: Exploring Why Art Matters. In this 168-page book with 98 images published in 2021, Wagner shines a light on how a creative practice enhances intuition and serves in times of personal challenge.

Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, Wagner lived in New York City, Washington D.C., and California before calling Gig Harbor, Washington home for the past 24 years.

Kathie Vezzani who is hosting the workshop, also is an artist who paints, rusts and waxes. She organizes trips for other artists and in a former life was a caterer. She has over three decades of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.

OUT OF CONTEXT WITH GARY AND MARY ANN CARLSON

July 9-12, 2026, Port Orchard, WA

Back by popular demand for their third Bellissima Art Escape are Gary and Mary Ann Carlson. Believe me when I tell you that if you are an assemblage artist, you need to attend this workshop. They are masters at attaching materials of any kind.

You will learn:

• Compositional methods and critique skills to unify your composition

• The appropriate products and methods of attaching a wide variety of materials

• Material techniques using Apoxie Sculpt, Sculpt Noveau Metal Coatings paint and patinas

• Appropriate tools for specific materials, rivets, saw, cutof saws, grinders, etc.

• Appropriate display hardware for asymmetric physical weight balance of artwork

From the chaos of an overabundance of materials, our artists swapped supplies, helped each other and created amazing pieces.

Itinerary

We will meet each day at 9:30 am, stopping for lunch provided by our host, Kathie Vezzani, and ending the day around 4:30 pm. Dinner will be provided one evening.

On the last day, we will work until we break for lunch, then we will finish any last minute details before cleaning up and sharing our work in a Show ‘N tell.

The class is full. Join the waitlist.

This Art Escape includes

• Four days instruction by Gary and Mary Ann Carlson

• Four lunches, one dinner

• Lots of materials

The cost of this workshop is $950. A deposit of $500 is due upon registration. The balance is due February 12, 2026.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are manyAirBNBs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

We Will Provide

• 12” edge glued wood round

• 16”x 16” x 1/4” plywood

• Primer paint, water-based

• Metal Coatings brass and iron paint

• Metal coatings patinas, tiffany green and tan

• Clear acrylic Matt spray

• Jig saw (metal and wood blades), small pull saw, coping saw

• Drill and bits

• Hammers

• Safety goggles

• Metal shears

• Metal files

• Wood rasps

• Brad nailer

• Escutcheon pins

• Nail set

• Center punch

• Wood scraps

• Wire and wire cutters

• Metal cutoff saw

• Clamps

• Nails and screws

• Bits of wood and tin that you may want to use

• Acrylic paint

• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

• Sponge brushes

• Paint brushes

• Wood glue

• Plastic gloves

• Sandpaper, emery paper, steel wool various textures

• Rivet gun and aluminum rivets

• Apoxie Sculpt

Student Supply List

• Apron

• Pencils, sharpies

• Scissors,

• E-6000 glue,

• JB weld kwik glue

• Bring ideas and found object materials that have similar elements such as color, shape, line for your wall sculpture.

These are just ideas. You do not need to collect all of this:

• vintage wood typesetter’s letters or typewriter keys or metal letter stencils

• wood blocks, letters

• vintage clock insides, watch parts

• various sized wood balls, pool balls, beads, ¼”- 1½”

• croquet balls, mallets or sticks

• small decorative brass horns

• vintage embroidery hoops or circles, old tin lids

• vintage wood hangers or any wood or metal arc

• interesting sticks or wood shapes - objects

• small hollow, plastic bird forms

• small rusted metal sheet material that has some color left,

• small metal lamp parts, metal leaves, brass or chrome metal bits

• old rulers, wood metal or cloth

• old paintbrushes,

• small vintage tools

• small antlers or horns

• copper or aluminum tape

Minnesota artist Gary Carlson is a sculptor and retired art teacher. He has worked as an art educator, a graphic artist, a portrait photographer, and painter. Since retiring from teaching, his worked has been primarily creating found object assemblage sculptures.

Throughout his career, he has exhibited in galleries, art centers, art competitions and art fairs in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, as well as the Midwest. Gary’s work is in the collection of the East Central Regional Arts Council and he has received numerous awards.

MaryAnn Carlson also is a former art educator. She has worked as a jeweler, a picture framer, a gallery director, an art administrator, a small business owner, a graphic artist, a digital photo editor, a painter and a sculptor. She has exhibited in galleries, art centers, art competitions in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Her work is in the collection of The East Central Regional Arts Council and she has received numerous awards for her unique sculptures. She is a master at hanging artwork!

MATERIALS ALCHEMY: DEVELOPING LAYERS OF MEANING AND MAGIC IN MIXED MEDIA WITH CRYSTAL MARIE

October 2-4, 2026

Port Orchard, WA

Alchemy begins when the ordinary becomes extraordinary—when torn papers, threads, pigments, and marks gather into something greater than their parts. In this workshop, we will enter that space of transformation, where collage becomes both a process of layering and a language of discovery.

Guided by artist Crystal Marie, you’ll create your own collection of papers and textiles with hand-altered surfaces, then explore how they might speak to one another on canvas or paper. Through the tactile process of kneading, staining and mark-making, collaging and layering, you’ll learn to trust the intuitive pull of the materials, letting them guide you toward unexpected connections and compositions.

Rather than striving for perfection or control, we’ll lean into the mystery—allowing fragments to find their place, and compositions to take shape through both chance and intention. Along the way, you may create small samplers to test ideas, alongside larger collage works that carry depth, texture, and resonance. This is the heart of material alchemy: not simply technique, but transformation.

Techniques Covered in this workshop include:

• Creating, using, and storing Konjac Glue.

• Applications for using Konjac Glue to create interesting textures and patterns on paper.

• Using Konjac Glue as an adhesive

• Developing meaningful designs with mark-making techniques.

• Stiffening, staining, and shaping paper and textiles.

• Layering and embedding string, feathers, or other small items into paper

• Composing collage works on paper or unstretched canvas.

• Finishing collage works on panel and in free-flowing banner style presentation.

Itinerary

Friday, October 2. We will meet in the Bellissima Art Studio at 9:30 a.m. Crystal will go over the workshop schedule and then we will begin to create, stopping for lunch, and then continuing until we end around 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 3. Meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m., lunch and dinner will be provided today.

Sunday, October 4. Meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m., late lunch, then we will clean up and have our show “n tell. Workshop will be over at 4:30 p.m.

This Art Escape includes

• Three days instruction by Crystal Marie

• Three lunches, one dinner

• Some Art Supplies

• Private Facebook Page

• New art tribe

The cost of this workshop is $800. A non-refundable $400 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining $400 is due April 15, 2026.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are many AirBNBs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

We will provide

• Tools and equipment to create Konjac Glue

• Konjac powder

• White Mulberry paper for substrate and fodder

• Adhesive

• Brushes/applicators for adhesive

• Unstretched canvas for substrates

• Wire, nails, string, and other materials for embedding and attachments

• Wire cutter and hammers

• Rust solution for staining

• India Ink

• 10x10” cradled wood panel

• 3-4 small disposable type food containers with lids (8oz--16oz)

• Nitril gloves

• Drawing mediums of choice (oil and chalk type pastels, charcoal, graphite, color pencils, watercolors, etc.)

Artist Supply List

• Scissors

• Craft Knife

• Ruler

• Apron

• Large Silicone craft mat or silicone oven liner

• 2-3 Chinese Calligraphy Brushes in varying sizes

• 2-3 Hake style brush’s (at least one should be 2.5--3” width)

• 2-3 small bottles of fluid acrylic paints in colors of choice

• Variety of collected papers and ephemera for collage-new and/or vintage.

• Selection of textiles in patterns and colors of choice– can be new or salvaged from clothing, household linens, etc.

• One box of unbleached pre-folded coffee filters (for pour over style)

• One box of dry wax bakery tissue

• Small lightweight found or natural objects.

Crystal Marie considers herself to be “a material girl” when it comes to her art practice, which is rooted in collage. Evolving to include three-dimensional sculptures and assemblages, Crystal’s work speaks to both physical location and identity. Her process begins with an experimental approach, allowing what she’s brought to the table to inform her decisions as she builds layers of texture and meaning.

A Chicago based mid-career artist, Crystal Marie has one book published on the art of collage and is writing a second book about overcoming the blocks commonly encountered in the studio. Crystal has exhibited her work in many fine art exhibitions and solo shows, earning her gallery representation and the coveted 2018 Racine Art Museum Artist Fellowship.

Blog - Instagram

Kathie Vezzani who is hosting the workshop, also is an artist who paints, rusts and waxes. She organizes trips for other artists and in a former life was a caterer. She has over three decades of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.

SHADOW BOX NARRATIVES WITH MORGAN BRIG

October 8-11, 2026

Port Orchard, WA

Storytellers will love this 4-day class with Morgan Brig. Shadow Box Narratives will focus on a central clay figure which will relate to its own story developed within a shadow box.

This class will include many demonstrations to help you develop your character, the shadow box and all the fun things that add to that particular character’s story. The possibilities are endless.

Class Schedule

Day 1 - Thursday October 8

We will meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m. for introductions and class overview with samples. Morgan will demonstrate constructing with Apoxie Sculpt, painting and dry brush. Lunch will be provided and class will end at 4:30 p.m.

Day 2 - Friday October 9

There will be a lot of demonstrations today so make sure that you arrive at 9:30 a.m.. You will learn safety rules using a torch, how to anneal, fit metal pieces to clay bodies and how to make ears, wings, and cones. And that’s just before lunch! Afterward, Morgan will teach pipe cutting and how to make legs with body connections. Class will be over at 4:30 p.m.

Day 3 - Saturday October 10

Today it’s all about making charms, jump rings, wire hangers and decorative pieces. Class again starts at 9:30, we will break for lunch at 12:30 and dinner will be served after class ends today at 4:30ish.

Day 4 - Sunday October 11

We will continue working this morning (9:30) to finish up our creations. Lunch will be served around 1:00, then we will finish up any last minute details before cleaning up and having our Show “N Tell where you will share your work. Class will be over at 4:30.

Session One - August 6-9 Full

Session Two - October 8-11 Full

This Art Escape includes

• Four days instruction by Morgan

• Four lunches, one dinner

• Some Art Supplies

• Private Facebook Page

• New art tribe

The cost of this workshop is $950. A non-refundable $500 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining $450 is due April 15, 2026.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are many AirBNBs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

We will provide

• copper kit

• torches

• firing stations

• brazing rod

• acrylic paint

• drills, drill bits

• grinder

• tin snips

• metal and wood forming blocks

• forming hammers

• elmers glue

• epoxy glue

• nitrile gloves

• wood bases

Artist Supply List

• Aves Apoxie Sculpt, white, size 4 lbs.

• Clay tools

• Box or at least 20 Phillips flat head wood screws #4, 1/2”

• Foil - 75 ft

• Roll of masking tape

• Small tube of Raw Umber acrylic paint

• Small Phillips screwdriver

• Rag

• Scissors

• Small and medium paint brushes

• Several sheets of copy paper for pattern cutting

• Pencil

• Exacto knife with extra blades

• Blue or black extra fine point Sharpie pen

• Needle nose pliers

• Found objects: anything you love to be used as a body part (beak, rabbit ears) or decoration. Leather bit, coins, dice for instance.

• Scotch tape

• Beads, charms, stringing wire or string

• small pieces of fabric for decorating

Optional

• plain jute twine

• small glass eyes

• round nose pliers

• fur, feathers

• tin snips

• wire cutters

• colorful interesting string - small quantities

• waxed string for wrapping legs, wing wires, etc.

Morgan Brig is a mixed media artist from Vashon Island, WA. She loves to capture emotion in her sculptures using multiple layers of media that bring the subtlety of expression to each character. Her layers include etched metal detail, enamel patinas and found objects that suggest the old and familiar, but ask to be viewed in a new light. She often uses language and occult symbols in her designs to support her belief that there is always guidance to be found from external and internal sources as we go through life. There also is playfulness in her design inspired by her love of old metal and tin toys and her desire to lay humor next to truth or fear in her work.

Kathie Vezzani who is hosting the workshop, also is an artist who paints, rusts and waxes. She organizes trips for other artists and in a former life was a caterer. She has over three decades of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.